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Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Day We Didn't Meet @ShaneVictorino

2009 Upper Deck First Edition #230

A few weeks ago, I bit the bullet and purchased a Shane Victorino autograph ticket for his appearance at the Philadelphia Sportscard and Memorabilia Show (The Philly Show) today. Victorino has long been my son Doug's favorite baseball player and getting to meet the Flyin' Hawaiian was going to part of Doug's Christmas present from his mom and me. I even splurged for the additional $25 inscription fee in order to have this picture personalized for Doug. The price I paid was ridiculous, but I justified it in my mind with the happiness it would bring my son.

Last night, we planned for the event and Doug laid out his Victorino t-shirt to wear today for when he met one of his heroes. We woke up early, prepared to make the hour long drive to the show location in order to get a prime spot in Victorino's line.

And then checking Twitter after breakfast, I saw this:

Wanted to let my fans know that I won't be able to make into town for my card signing...unfortunately I told the folks who run the show
— Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) December 7, 2013

And then this:

but after a few more calls tonight I guess they haven't passed that info along to the public! Little disappointed my fans weren't informed
— Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) December 7, 2013

I had the unenviable task of telling Doug that we wouldn't be meeting Victorino today, and I explained to him that these things happen. There were some tears involved, but I promised him that we'll try again to meet Victorino in the future.

I hold no ill-will towards Victorino. Like I said, these things happen and I'm sure he has a good reason why he couldn't be in town for his scheduled signing. However . . . what does irk me a little is the fact that the folks who run the Philly Show apparently knew in advance that Victorino wouldn't be able to appear, and they failed to communicate that news to those of us planning to attend. As of this writing, they're still selling Victorino autograph tickets on their website.

I've e-mailed their customer service in the hopes of quickly having my $111.28 refunded. Hopefully they'll come through with a quick refund and only then will I sing that "every little thing's gonna be all right."

Bummer about Shane. They said he'll be at a signing in January at the BC Sports store in the KOP Mall. By the way, I could be wrong, but I thought that believe BC Sports runs the autograph portion of the show, so the blame should go to them, not Hunt Auctions.

I went to the show and got a photo with Pete Rose with my son. Pete was very friendly, talked to him a little, put his arm around him for the photo, and gave a big smile, so I was pleased. My son played his part perfectly. I said to him, "Pete has more hits than anyone in baseball ever." My son opened his mouth wide and said, "Whooaahh." I think it sufficiently stroked Pete's ego to get a good picture out of him.

My son got a good sized Shady McCoy figurine for $10 (why would the be selling for less than retail?), a few cards that mostly dealers gave him just for being a cute kid looking at cards, and a couple Buster Posey cards (who he inexplicably likes in addition to the Phils). But mostly he was enthralled by a Lego stand that a dealer's wife had set up next to the cards that her husband was selling, and we went back there a couple times to look. So he's easing into baseball fandom....

Thanks for sharing this and I bet your son will always remember meeting Pete Rose! Very cool indeed.

Sports Vault sent out an e-mail last week saying that they had reached an impasse with Victorino and they would be refunding everyone's money. Of course, they asked that we e-mail customer service to first request a refund. I'm not sure if I'll willingly deal with them again.